OAKLAND — Lee Ya-Ching, actress and aviatrix, was a pioneer in her field. In 1936, she became the first woman in China to have a pilot’s license and co-founded that country’s first civilian flying school.

Lee worked in China as a silent film actress before her 1934 relocation to Switzerland where she earned a pilot’s license. The following year, Lee advanced her training at Oakland’s American Boeing School of Aeronautics, becoming the first female to be licensed at that school.

She is seen here in these Oakland Tribune photos arriving at the Oakland Airport aboard her yellow and red Stinson SR-9B Reliant Spirit of New China on April 26, 1939. Lee was on a goodwill campaign to raise funds for China’s 30 million war refugees.

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